Ashika Ashokan Opens Up About Casting Couch: 'I Was Offered A Car Worth 25 Lakhs To Compromise'

Ashika Ashokan Opens Up About Casting Couch: Ashika Ashokan is a star who is famous for her Tik Tok, YouTube, and Instagram videos. After playing small roles, the actor is now active in films.

Ashika started with the title role in the film 'Missing Girl'. In an interview given to Indian Cinema Gallery regarding the promotion of the film, the actress talked about the bad experiences she faced in the industry.

She had no prior experience in the film industry when she entered it. "Even people with family ties to the film industry are struggling to survive. Then what about people like us? For me, social media gave me exposure. If I have gotten a start in cinema, I have achieved it alone," she said.

I never wanted to be an actress. Until three years ago, none of this was even in my wildest dreams. I was the worst-dressed girl, and my friends always made fun of me at school. It was in my second year of college that everything started to change-my appearance, etc. If you ask how it happened, I don't know.

Casting Couch In Tamil Industry

As a beginner in the industry, there are many problems. I have had such an experience. After this film, Missing Girl, I got the offer of a Tamil film. The casting coordinator who called me said that he introduced Samantha to the industry. But the truth is that no one in the industry knows him. I don't want to reveal his name.

I got a call from him saying that he was with director AC Mugil. He said over the phone that he has a good relationship with everyone in the industry and that he is going to meet director Lokesh Kanakaraj. He convinced me so much. No matter how educated you are, you will believe it in a second. I believed. I went to the shoot.

The movie was shot in Pollachi. The shoot started. He stayed in Hero's room. At one o'clock or two o'clock in the night, he would come and knock on the door of my room. It was terribly irritating. His harassment mentally tortured me at a time when I was trying to motivate myself to become an actress.

One day he came to the caravan and said that if I compromise for a couple of hours, he can deliver a car worth 25 lakhs within a month. I didn't know how to react at that moment. It wasn't anger that I felt, but a kind of pity. I could have slapped him and come out. But I have come to be a part of film with so much passion and desire. I asked him to leave.

It's a pity when people in the industry behave like this. In what is perhaps the biggest paradox, no one who truly loves cinema and has devoted their heart and soul to it would behave this badly. A lot of people who don't make it anywhere in the movie are behaving like this. The whole industry has a bad name because of such people.

Yet his harassment continued. Mental torture. Unable to take the trouble, I mentioned this to one or two assistant directors there. After that, they gave me some security. By the time of the second schedule, he had not come. The day of 'pack-up' came. At the location, he called me with authority, 'Ashika, come here.' I didn't mind him.

I was staying in a four-star hotel. I was ready to pack everything and leave. He was in the artist's room in the other room and called me again: Why are you not talking to me? When he grabbed me by the arm, I hit him. It became a problem; people also beat him. I haven't seen him since, said Ashika.